The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ordered real estate agent Glenn Ryan and his company, Glenn Ryan Real Estate Pty Ltd, to establish better trust account procedures.
VCAT made the final orders after the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria alleged Mr Ryan and his company committed various breaches of the Estate Agents Act 1980.
The Director alleged that Mr Ryan and the company breached the Act by
- trading while unlicensed
- carrying on business as estate agents and failing to cause their trust account moneys to be audited within three months of the end of the previous year for four years (Mr Ryan) and three years (the company)
- failing to correctly balance the trust accounts at the end of each month, for 13 months from 2008 to 2010
- failing to complete and keep a trust account reconciliation statement at the end of each month for 13 months from 2008 to 2010
It was also alleged that Mr Ryan breached the Act by failing to have a principal office in Victoria.
VCAT orders that Mr Ryan:
- complete monthly trust account bank reconciliations
- establish a trust account receipt book in the name of the business
- establish a proper sequentially numbered receipt system
- establish a cash receipts journal, which is to contain full particulars.
In addition, for the next two years, Mr Ryan’s trust account is to be audited every six months.